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Tails was thankful he was buckled in the center between Knuckles and Sonic. While he was used to having injuries, he didn’t think his ribs would have enjoyed the strap that was over the other two on the side seats. As it was, he was having a little difficulty breathing through the twinges of pain with every bump Tom hit.
He was experienced on his own and knew what to expect whenever he was traveling with an injury. Not knowing the land and how the truck handled certain streets or being able to prepare for sudden movements was proving to be a bit rough.
As soon as they got out of the vehicle, Tails would be perfectly fine. Afterall, he’s had it worse.
The fox let out a sharp quiet gasp when another bump in the road jostled him. Tails held his breath for a moment before letting it out and fidgeting to get a bit more comfortable, not noticing the violet eyes that kept darting to him with every small noise he made.
Sonic kept talking rapidly about anything and everything. He paused when he heard a small whimper after the truck hit a large pothole. Sonic glanced at Tails and took in the flattened ears and reached over to hold onto his hand, “Hey, you okay?”
Tails swallowed and grinned at him, “Yeah, I’m good!” He consciously lifted his ears and noticed Maddie looking at him from the front seat.
“Have you ever been in a car before?”
Knuckles chose that moment to speak up, “He hit me with one on our first meeting.”
Maddie blinked in shock while Tom glanced into the rearview mirror to look at them as well, “What?”
That prompted Sonic into a retelling of how Tails had rescued him from Knuckles and got them out of the tricky situation they were in.
All it succeeded in doing was shifting the worried attention to Knuckles.
“And you’re okay?”
Knuckles furrowed his brow, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Buddy, you got hit by a car!” Tom exclaimed as they pulled up to their house.
“I am much stronger than your flimsy carriages.”
Both Tom and Maddie let out small amused huffs of laughter before getting out of the car to check on their house. Sonic followed them and tried to apologize about the damages.
Tails’ wince from the sudden braking went unnoticed. As everyone started getting out, Tails reached over to undo his own seatbelt and took a shallow breath. Since Sonic was out first, he started to scoot that way until a gentle hand landed on his shoulder. He blinked at Knuckles and tilted his head in a silent question.
“You are injured, fox.”
Tails just gave Knuckles a small smile, “I’m alright.”
The echidna didn’t let his grip go, “You are not.”
Tails sighed and reached up to take Knuckles’ hand, “I know it isn’t too bad. And besides, everyone is tired.”
Knuckles opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a blue streak, “Come on slowpokes! We can all sleep in the living room!”
Tails’ ears perked up and squeezed Knuckles’ hand one more time before slipping out from under it and out of the truck.
Purple eyes followed, watching every careful step and adjustment. As if the fox had been through it before. He blinked when he realized it was a practiced ease of dealing with the pain. Tails had been injured like this before. Many times. Knuckles felt protectiveness surge inside of him. Just how many times had this child been hurt? By whom? And where was his tribe?
Tails noticed Knuckles never said anything to anyone about his injury, to which he was very grateful for. He didn’t want to cause any trouble for Mr. and Mrs. Wachowski. Tails knew how tired and worn out they were and even though Sonic was making a valiant attempt at trying to stay awake and hyped, he was also on the decline as well.
It didn’t take long for the three to fall asleep on the couch after Sonic managed to get everyone to sit down for a movie.
Knuckles sat in front of the couch while Tails tried not to be squished between the arm and Sonic.
The fox noticed that everyone’s eyes were closed and even though Knuckles was still sitting upright, he seemed to be sleeping as well. Tails quietly got up and carefully walked to the bathroom so he could use the mirror.
Typically, on his home planet, he would use a nearby stream for the reflection if he was far from his den. The lack of movement of the bathroom mirror made this a lot easier.
Tails carefully lifted his arms until it started to hurt, and from that point, he gently prodded the areas that were sore or felt bruised. He sighed as he lowered his arms and leaned against the sink. Tails was exhausted as well. And while the couch was comfortable, it didn’t allow him to sit up straight to keep his ribs from protesting. After a moment he brought his head back up and jumped with an alarmed squeak at the sudden appearance of Knuckles in the mirror.
Tails grunted at the sudden movement and hunched slightly over, “What’d you do that for?” He asked quietly.
Knuckles blinked at the reaction before swiftly turning and heading away.
Tails stared at the doorway in confusion for a few moments before his ears picked up some mumbling words. His tails straightened in shock before he quickly peeked past the doorway at the couch.
He saw all sets of eyes looking back at him.
Sonic jumped up from his place and zipped over to the fox, “I’m so sorry buddy, I forgot about Siberia.” He seemed genuinely guilty and his hands hovered like he wasn’t sure if he should help in some way.
Tails blinked again before grabbing one of the hands, “It’s okay, Sonic. I’m fine.”
Maddie got up and walked over as well, “Will you let me check?”
Tails paused but nodded, “Okay, Mrs. Wachowski.” He said quietly, unsure of what was happening. He looked back at Knuckles who was still beside the couch and Tom. Who was watching with worried eyes.
“Why didn’t you remind us when we got home?”
Tails felt Maddie start to check over him and he lifted his arms like he had in the bathroom, “Everyone was tired. And it’s not that bad.” He said before wincing when she poked his side.
Maddie hummed to herself before shaking her head, “Honey, I think you have some fractured ribs.”
Tails looked back at Maddie and nodded, “Yeah.”
The other four went silent and still. They knew he wasn’t asking. He was agreeing with her.
Sonic was the first to recover, “That’s bad, Tails.” He said, staring at the kid.
Tails looked back at Sonic still very confused, “Not really.”
Tom stood up from the couch and approached the trio, Knuckles following behind, “Fractures are no joke, kid. That’s some serious damage.”
Tails felt his tails flick nervously. He wasn’t sure why everyone was reacting this way, “Uhh-” He bit his lip to think of a way to show that it really wasn’t as big of a deal as they were all thinking it was, “I’ve had them before, it’s really not that bad.” He smiled but saw that it had the opposite effect.
Knuckles felt his arms drop to his sides from where they were crossed, “Fox,” He waited until the blue eyes met his own, “How many times have you had fractured ribs?”
Tails blinked before looking to the ground, “I mean, a lot?”
Maddie gasped and put her hands to her mouth.
Sonic flinched as if he was hit, “What do you mean ‘a lot’?!”
Tails brought one of his tails around to hold for comfort, he really didn’t like how everyone was acting and it was making him feel heavily uneasy now, “I mean, it’s not an uncommon occurrence?” He replied directly to Sonic, and then turned his attention to the floor, “Broken ribs are a lot worse and those run the risk of hurting other things inside the body. Fractured ones just hurt a bit and then they heal as long as I’m not moving too much.” He replied quietly.
The silence between everyone made Tails hold his tail tightly before he looked at the others again. He noticed tears in Maddie’s eyes first, the simmering anger in Knuckles and shock and sadness in Sonic and Tom’s, “...um, What’s wrong?” He asked quietly.
Knuckles took a deep breath before shaking his head, “Where was your tribe?”
Tails bit his lip before looking back to the floor.
Sonic made an alarmed noise, “You weren’t just teased on your home planet were you?”
Tails started to rock slightly in place to help stay grounded in the moment. He lightly tugged on the tips of his tail before shaking his head.
“What about your parents?” Tom asked gently as he crouched next to Maddie who was still covering her mouth.
“They left me in the forest when I was one.”
“Your tribe abandoned you? Why?”
Tails looked up at Knuckles before looking back to the ground, “They thought I was weird. And I didn’t fit in.” He shrugged before sighing again.
Maddie finally took her own deep breath before nodding to herself, “Alright, I know we’re all tired. We can pick this back up later after we’ve wrapped your ribs and get some rest.”
Tails blinked at her in confusion, “But, I’m fine.” He noticed her eyes mist slightly before she smiled at him.
“Just because you’ve gone through this before doesn’t mean you have to again. You’re here, and we want to care for you.”
Tails blinked, overcome by her words. He felt himself get guided back into the bathroom where he silently followed her gentle directions and once she was finished, he marveled at how the bandage supported and kept his torso in position without his own conscious effort.
He was led back to the couch and laid between Knuckles and Sonic who had made a makeshift nest for the three of them.
“We are all part of this tribe. And we will protect you, little one.”
Words felt too heavy for Tails, now that everything started to sink in. He just buried his face in one of his tails before nodding slightly. He felt a large hand cradle his head and another start to comb through his other tail. Tails relaxed for the first time in a long while and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.